Laminin 411 and 511 promote the cholangiocyte differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells

Here the authors searched for a suitable extracellular matrix to promote cholangiocyte differentiation from human iPS cells and found that both laminin 411 and laminin 511 were suitable for this purpose. Differentiated human iPSC to cholangiocyte-like cells via hepatoblasts-like cells (derived according to previous papers). The hepatoblast-like cells were mixed in a collagen gel and plated and for cholangiocyte differentiation, laminin was added to the medium. The gene expression levels of the cholangiocyte markers, aquaporin 1 (AQP1), SRY-box 9 (SOX9), cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), G protein-coupled bile acid receptor 1 (GPBAR1), Jagged 1 (JAG1), secretin receptor (SCTR), and g-glutamyl transferase (GGT1) were increased by using laminin 411 or laminin 511 as a matrix. In addition, the percentage of AQP1-positive cells was increased from 61.8% to 92.5% by using laminin 411 or laminin 511. Furthermore, the diameter and number of cysts consisted of cholangiocyte-like cells were increased when using either matrix.